How are these facility updates handles elsewhere? Around here, even in bigger schools lots of private donations are used.

I can't think of a single time private donations gave any significant money to our public schools for any project like that. Generally, private money is used to crap on our public schools, not help them. We have a football stadium that our 3 high schools plus the private Catholic high school all shared for decades. The private high school did have to pay some small rent to use it. It wasn't huge or anything, but evidently it was too much. They wanted their own stadium so they could stop paying rent and also collect profits from concessions. The local Catholic college was going to build the stadium, and share it with the Catholic high school. The college needed city approval to get it built because they pay zero property taxes. The neighbors really did not want it at all because now some of them have a loud football stadium 15 feet from their property, instead of a nice green space. The college found a couple people in the neighborhood who were big boosters of the college and high school to make it seem like opinion on it was mixed. It passed city council approval but the mayor vetoed it. So then the college just sold the land to the high school and they built it anyway. Evidently, the same rules about zoning don't apply to private high schools as private colleges. So they used their private money to [expletive] on their neighbors and the city. That's been my experience with private money + public schools and sports teams.

The only other example I can think of is something like ~8 years ago, the YMCA and city entered a joint venture. The Y built some new facilities attached to the 3 public high schools. The schools' sports teams can use them some of the time, but they are open to Y members too, most of the time. So that was nice. The Y generally does get some private donations for facilities but I don't know how much they got for those projects.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona teachers have voted to walk off the job to demand increased school funding, marking a key step toward a first-ever statewide strike that builds on a movement for higher pay in other Republican-dominant states.

A grassroots group and the state’s largest teacher membership group said Thursday that teachers will walkout April 26.

Arizona jumped into a movement for higher teacher pay that started in West Virginia, where a strike garnered a raise, and spread to Oklahoma, Kentucky and most recently Colorado.

Thursday’s vote followed weeks of protests in Arizona and an offer from Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to give teachers 20 percent raise by 2020. Many teachers kept up the pressure at schools and on social media, saying the plan failed to address much-needed funding for classrooms and support staff.

“The worst possible thing we could do is not take action right now,” said Noah Karvelis, an organizer for Arizona Educators United.

The historic vote was announced at a press conference at the Arizona Education Association headquarters. Around 78 percent of the 57,000 teachers voted in favor of the walkout, according to Joe Thomas, president of Arizona Education Association.

My Kids are looking forward to being off school next Thursday and Friday, lots of parents are scrambling to find child care for kids who may not be in school. People are worried if the strike goes too long, just how late will the kids have to be in school to make up the time. Oh noes, summer trips might have to be re-scheduled!

I am sitting here thinking, it is about damn time we start putting more money in to our schools. I voted yes on the last 2 tax increases for school funding, and have not heard of much of that money actually going to the schools.

The feelings are mixed here. I got to go on Poopy's field trip to the Science center on Wednesday, her teacher was in tears as we left for the day, saying how she hated to be away from her kids and she didn't want to walk out, but she had to. I support this movement, we need to put Education as a primary focus in this Country.